


Blowing Bubbles

by TheIttyBitty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Schmoop, Shmoop, Tiny Cas, octo cas, octo!cas, so much fluff like whoa damn, tiny!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-07 09:27:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1893909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIttyBitty/pseuds/TheIttyBitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While swimming, Dean comes across a tiny creature with the torso of a human, but the bottom half of an octopus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Glowing Lights

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is a series of little fics I'm doing on tumblr so some of the chapters might be pretty short, I don't know. So far, it's just fluff. So much fluff. Fluff fluff fluff. I'm not sure if I'll do any porny bits or not. Maybe a bit later on... yeah, probably later on.

Dean is swimming, diving into the waves with a manic grin on his face. When he comes up for air he can feel the wind and the crackling electricity from the storm. He tastes salt on his tongue and he just dives back under again.

Through goggles he sees the dark of the ocean floor. He sees fish, darting here and there among debris. He sees shells and seeweed and… wait, what is that?

A few feet from where he’s swimming Dean can see something half buried in the sand. It’s glowing, weakly.

He swims over to the glow and looks down at it curiously. He reaches out a finger to touch it but before can he’s buffeted by a wave. He only goes a few feet, though, and soon he’s back. This time he’s quicker, he reaches out and scoops up the sand covered thing.

It’s only about the size of his hand, it fits in his palm although there are things coming off of it that are falling off the sides.

The sand falls away and Dean nearly lets out the breath he’s been holding, it’s a person! Or… _something._

Okay, so it isn’t a person. Not only is it too small to be a person, it also has little blue tentacles.

That’s right, the top half of the creature in Dean’s hand looks human, the bottom half is a mass of still tentacles, many of which are hanging off of the sides of Dean’s hand.

Instinct tell him to drop it and swim away as fast as possible. He doesn’t, though, because the creature in his palm is very still and it seems wrong to just leave something so strange and new.

 He holds the creature gingerly as he swims one handed toward the shore. He climbs out of the surf onto the damp sad, rivulets of water running off of him back to their mother ocean. The sky above is a dark, menacing purple and, as he stands there, thunder rumbles through the sky.

 He takes a moment to examine the thing in his hand, just to see if it’s alive. It seems to be. As he watches, its tiny chest rises and falls almost imperceptibly and when he puts a pinky to the thing’s chest he thinks he feels a weak heartbeat.

 Dean glances along the shore quickly and _yes_ there’s a little blue bucket laying on its side, abandoned. He gets the bucket and quickly fills it with sea water before lowering the creature into it gently.

 He holds the bucket to his chest and runs down the abandoned beach until he reaches his house/place of work.

 It’s a moderate sized brown bungalow just off of the beach. Outside of it are rows of surf boards, currently covered in tarp. A good fourth of the house is sectioned off and has been transformed into a little shop that sells fishing and surfing supplies.

 Dean tromps in the back door, stripping off his wet swim trunks and goggles and tossing them in a pile. He takes the bucket into the kitchen and sets it on the counter while he goes to put on dry clothes and tries to figure out what the hell to do next.

 He remembers, as he’s pulling his worn AC/DC shirt over his head, the time Sam bought him a beta fish (it didn’t last very long) and promptly goes searching for whatever it had been in. He finds it eventually in the attic. It’s just a small round fishbowl, but Dean figures it’ll do for now. It’s covered in dust and cobwebs and he has to wash it thoroughly before tipping the bucket, and the creature, over into it. The things drifts slowly to the bottom of the bowl, still unconscious.

 Dean sits on a stool by the counter and watches it for a while, his chin resting on his folded hands that lay on the counter. The creature is fair skinned and dark haired. His(?) chest is toned and his tiny nipples are dusky in the water. He has a strong jaw and his lips are very pink. Dean thinks absently that if the creature were bigger, he might be handsome.

 Watching the creature is boring, though, and Dean gets up to make himself supper. He makes himself a burger at the stove, flipping it adeptly, and warms a piece of the apple pie that his mother gave him a few days ago.

 He sits again with a relieved sigh and is about to dig in when he catches movement out of the corner of his eye.

 He looks quickly at the bowl to see that some of the tentacles are moving. They’re poking around at the flat floor and convex walls of the fish bowl. As Dean watches, the creature opens its tiny eyes. It blinks, once, and notices Dean.

 It sits up quickly and tries to back away, but quickly comes into contact with another wall. It’s scrambling around, slapping at the walls with its little hands and tentacles and becoming more and more frightened. It starts making scared little squeaks and squeals and Dean suddenly feels really bad for bringing it here.

 After a minute, though, it seems to get tired. It stops slapping at the walls and slumps dejectedly to the floor.

 Dean leans forward slowly and taps gently at the glass. The creature looks up at him, its face a mask of panic.

 ”I’m not gonna hurt you.” Dean says soothingly. “It’s okay. Here, you can get out this way.” He touches the water at the top of the bowl to show the little guy that there isn’t a wall up there.

 The creature eyes him warily, but it gets up and swims to the top. Its tentacles are a swirling mass of wriggling color and Dean is in awe of the way they propel the creature forward so quickly. It pokes its head slowly out of the water, wrapping some of the tentacles over the edge of the bowl.

 ”Eep.” It says.

 ”Uh….” Replies Dean. The creature is looking at him curiously now, head cocked to the side. Dean raises his hand up and wiggles a finger in front of the thing. “Hey, little guy.” He says.

 The creature shrinks back momentarily, obviously expecting an attack. When one doesn’t come it moves closer, leaning over the edge of the fish bowl and reaching out with one if its tentacles to poke Dean’s finger before quickly retreating again. Dean doesn’t move and the creature leans forward to poke again.

 It’s adorable and it doesn’t hurt or anything, it doesn’t even feel particularly slimy, so Dean just lets the little guy poke his finger to his tiny heart’s content.

 After a while the creature seems to gather that Dean isn’t going to hurt him, and he begins closer inspection of the finger. He wraps a tentacle around it and drags it closer. He looks at the swirls on it, then looks at his own hand and wiggles his fingers about. He sniffs Dean’s finger too, and licks it, and even tries to bite it but Dean quickly puts a stop to that. Whenever the creature licks Dean’s finger he seems immensely pleased. He hums happily and makes a tittering noise. When he bites Dean and Dean begins to pull away the creature makes a sad little whine. Dean puts his finger back and the little guy doesn’t try to bite him again. He does shove his head against the finger a few times though, and that’s kinda weird.

He offers the creature some apple pie filling at one point, on the tip of his pointer finger. The creature makes the happy tittering noise again and licks all of the filling off of Dean’s finger. Then he whines and pokes around at Dean’s other fingers, looking for more. Dean just laughs shows him that there’s no more pie on his fingers.

 After a while Dean gets sleepy and decides it’s time to turn it. He’s not sure what to do with the sea creature though. At first he means to leave it on the kitchen counter overnight but when he starts to move away the little guy starts making that little whining sound again. He decides, finally, to bring the bowl into the bedroom with him.

 He’s worried that the creature will try and escape the bowl during the night, so he ends up putting a heavy dictionary on top of it. The creature doesn’t like that, it trills angrily for a while but Dean makes soothing noises at it through the glass and eventually it calms.

 When Dean turns out the bedroom lights he’s reminded that the creature glows. It’s emitting a faint blue light, it’s moving and pulsating as the creature does. The glow itself seems stationary. It comes from small dots speckling the creature’s tiny extra appendages. It’s beautiful, and Dean just watches it for a while. The creature watches him back, and so they just end up staring at each other for a long time.

 When Dean finally settles into his bed and pulls the blankets up under his chin he realizes that he likes the glow. It’s like having his own little nightlight.


	2. Octo Sapien

Dean yawns and stretches, kicking the warm blankets off of his legs. He lays there, still, for a minute watching the sunlight play across the ceiling before his revere is interrupted by a chirping sound.

  
When he sits up he sees that it’s the creature from last night, bobbing excitedly in his fishbowl and waving its tentacles around. He stands and walks to the fishbowl to take the dictionary off of the top. As soon as he does the little guy is poking his head out the water and reaching toward Dean’s hand with its wriggly limbs. Dean let’s the little guy wrap the tentacles around his hand and pull himself out of the water to sit in Dean’s palm. He coos and looks around curiously, there’s an intelligent glint in his eye that Dean didn’t notice last night, like he knows vaguely what’s going on and is determined to figure it out.

  
Dean let’s the creature sit in his hand while he goes to his bedside table to retrieve his cellphone. He quickly dials his brother’s number and waits while it rings.

  
“ _Hey, Dean.”_ He hears finally.

   
"Hey, Sam! You gotta lot goin’ on today?" He asks nonchalantly.

   
” _Not really.”_ His brother intones. _"Got a few classes this morning but my evening is free. Jess is working a double so she won’t be home ‘till late."_  


  
Dean nods even though he knows his brother can’t see him. He wiggles his fingers and the creature in his hand gives an annoyed shriek.

  
"Well, I’m askin’ cuz I found something yesterday and I think you’ll want to see it."

  
_"What is it?"_   


   
"I don’t know, I also thought you could help with that."

   
Dean hears his brother laugh. _"Yeah, sure. I’ll come over after I finish my classes."_  


   
"Okay, I’ll see ya." Says Dean, and then he hangs up. He brings the creature up to his face. It eyes him curiously. "Sammy’ll know what you are." He mutters.

 

Dean opens his shop promptly at ten after eating a couple of microwave waffles for breakfast. He’d given bits of it to the creature too, but it was pretty obvious that the little guy preferred pie. Dean doesn’t blame him.

 

He turns on the lights, opens the shutters on the windows, and unlocks the door. He brings the creature with him, now back in the fishbowl, and sets it behind the counter where he can keep an eye on it but the customers can’t see.

 

 The creature is very curious today, when there are no customers he makes squeaking noises until Dean picks him up, then proceeds to climb the man’s arm, tickling Dean with his tiny suckers. Then he’ll stretch his tentacles until he can reach the counter and sort of leap across. Once on the counter, he looks at everything.

   
He pokes at the buttons on the cash register, inking in alarm when he accidentally opens the cash drawer. Dean is confused at first when he sees the dark liquid pooling beneath the creature, but then he remembers that octopi ink as a defense mechanism. He supposes it’s probably more effective in the water. The creature looks down and coos in what sounds startlingly like an ashamed manner. He moves himself out of the ink, leaving tiny black sucker prints on the counter behind him. He pokes at the shop’s phone, pressing buttons wildly and trilling happily. He pokes around at the little displays that hold chap stick and sunscreen and other small things. When he comes across the small cardboard box of bracelets he let’s out a series of excited chirps starts sifting through them with his tiny arms as well as his tentacles. Dean watches with a smile as the creature lifts one out and looks at it like it’s the most beautiful think he’s ever seen. It’s just a little thing, rainbow colored string braided into a bracelet with little clasps at the ends and a little glass charm shaped like a sea shell. The little guy coos and chirps as he unclasps it and then tries to re-clasp it around his neck. He can’t quite get it though and he skitters over to Dean and holds it out to him.

 

 Dean takes it gently, realizing suddenly that this creature is much smarter than he’d originally thought. He clasps the bracelet behind the creature’s neck, and it looks up at him happily. It looks a little silly, it’s too big on the little guy and it hangs down to where his belly button would be if he had one, but he seems to like it so Dean doesn’t interfere.

   
The creature stays out of the water for a long time, until its little limbs start to dry out, then it quickly scoots back to the fishbowl. Dean doesn’t know a lot about octopi but he’s pretty sure normal ones can’t stay out of the water for so long. He assumes the little guy can stay out so long because of his human parts.

 

Around twelve Bobby comes by to talk and Dean stashes the creature behind the counter quickly. It keeps its head out of the water though, resting it on tentacles that are folded over the edge. The little guy just watches Dean while he’s talking to Bobby, occasionally he’ll stretch out a tentacle to poke Dean in the knee and Dean will reach down and stroke the creature’s little head.

 

 

Sam comes by at six o clock, an hour after Dean has closed up shop. Dean and the creature are in the kitchen, Dean is making spaghetti and the creature is in the fishbowl on the counter next to him. The little guy keeps stretching out his little tentacles and snapping up food. He gets uncooked pasta, which he does _not_ like, some stewed tomato, and some cooked beef. He seems endlessly amused by Dean’s attempts to stop him from stealing food.

 

Sam knocks on the front door once, and then just comes on in, like always. He follows his nose to the kitchen and comes over to see what Dean is cooking. He doesn’t notice the creature in the fishbowl right away and the two of them are all the way into a conversation about Jess’s new hours at the hospital when Sam stops mid sentence and says “Dean, what is that?” and points to the creature, who is trying to sneakily steal more beef.

 

The creature freezes, realizing he’s been caught, and grins sheepishly.

 

"Oh!" Says Dean, waving his spatula. "This is what I found!"

 

Sam leans close to the fishbowl and the creature sinks down into the bowl.

 

"Hey!" Sam says after a moment of examination. "I know what this is!"

 

Dean sets his spatula down, confused. “You do?” He asks.

 

"Yeah!" Sam says excitedly. "They were all over the news like five or six months back! Do you not watch the news?"

 

Dean shakes his head. “Bobby tells me what I need to know.”

 

Sam rolls his eyes, but Dean can tell he’s still excited. “They’re calling them “Octo Sapiens”. They’re basically just little people… except with tentacles. They’re really smart. This little dude is probably way smarter than you.” Dean frowns at Sam, but he just keeps going. “They can speak human languages too, but I guess this guy doesn’t know any?”

 

Dean shakes his head. “Not that I’ve noticed.”

 

Sam suddenly stands up straight. “You didn’t, like, kidnap him did you?”

 

Dean gives Sam an exasperated look. “No, I didn’t _kidnap_ him. God, Sammy! C’mon! I was swimming and I found him unconscious!”

 

"Oh." Says Sam. "Alright, sorry. I wonder what happened to him."

 

Dean shrugs. “Not really any way to find out, is there?”

 

"Sure there is!" Sam exclaims. "We find somebody who speaks his language, maybe we can get them to teach him English."

 

"That would be pretty cool. You know anybody?"

 

Sam’s brow furrows with thought. “You might try Charlie over at Harper’s.”

 

"The _pet store_?” Dean says hesitantly. “He’s not a pet, dude. You _just_ told me that he’s basically a tiny human.”

 

Sam raises his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying that she might know. She knows Klingon for Christ’s sake, maybe she knows the language these guys speak. Or maybe she’ll know somebody else who does.”

 

Dean nods. “Yeah, okay. That makes sense. I’ll go after work tomorrow.”

 

 

The three of them eat at the kitchen table. Dean even puts a little spaghetti on a plate and sets it in front of the creature’s fishbowl. He eats it enthusiastically, cooing happily at the long noodles and tomato sauce. He practically has a fit when Dean gives him a meatball, biting into it with abandon and getting juice all over his face and his makeshift necklace.

 

Dean chuckles and hands him a napkin, which he just pokes at confusedly.

 

Later on when he goes to bed, Dean puts the fishbowl on his night stand. He doesn’t put a dictionary over it this time, he doesn’t think the little guy will run away, and anyway now he knows that it can make it’s own decisions. He thinks maybe the creature likes it here.


	3. Enochi to English

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of doing the next chapter from Cas's POV. What do you guys think?
> 
> Also, I'm posting this at like two in the morning so let me know about any errors! Thanks!

 

The next day, Dean introduces the creature to frosted flakes. He decides to make a second bowl after the little guy _climbs into_ the first bowl of cereal. He splashes around in the milk happily and coos over the crunchy flakes. The first time he picks up a large flake with both hands and bites into it his entire face lights up and he trills excitedly. He makes kind of a big mess, splashing sugary milk over the table, but Dean doesn't really mind all that much.

 

They spend most of the day in the shop again, the creature explores more of the counter. He gets very confused about the little containers of live worms. When he sees them wriggling around in there he quickly snaps the top back on, his face is scrunched up in disgust.

 

After they close at five Dean takes the fishbowl, with the creature in it, to the Impala. He keeps the bowl in his lap, because he's afraid of it spilling. As soon as he starts up the car and pulls into the road the creature is climbing up his shirt and onto his shoulder. His tentacles latch tightly to Dean's shoulder and he gets a grip on Dean's ear with his little hand. He watches, enthralled, as the world speeds by. It only takes ten minutes to get the pet store, and the creature refuses to get down from Dean's shoulder so Dean walks in with it still sitting there.

There's no one at the register but Dean sees a pretty redhead over by the scorpion tanks so he moseys over. She turns as he approaches and gives him a smile. "Hi! Welcome to Harper's! How can I help - oh my god! Is that an Enochian?" She's gone from polite to enthusiastic in seconds and Dean is left feeling dizzy.

"Uh, maybe?" He says. "I don't really know... what they're called."

She nods and moves closer to get a better look. "Enochians or Octo Sapiens, there's some debate but I prefer Enochian personally." The creature tries to hide, unsuccessfully, behind Dean's ear.

"It is! Oh my god, that's awesome! What's his name?" She asks.

Dean shakes his head. "I don't know, he doesn't speak English. I'm looking for someone who could help me with that, someone told me to ask for "Charlie" here."

The girl's face lights up. "That's me!" then it fades. "I don't know the language, though." She taps her chin with her pointer finger and scrunches her eyebrows. "I bet I know someone who does, though!" She says.

 

Twenty minutes later the two of them leave with a much bigger tank and the number of a guy named Kevin Tran who apparently knows Enochian and lives with one of the creatures.

The ride back to the bungalow is uneventful, the little guy is _still_ on Dean's shoulder and if feels pretty nice, really. The weight feels good, and the little coos and trills near his ear are kind of comforting.

Dean gets the new tank ready while he calls Kevin, they have a short chat and Kevin agrees to come directly over.

When Dean is done he steps back to look at the tank. It's much bigger, much nicer, but it seems extremely bare. It needs something, and Dean bites his lip and decides to get more stuff for the tank as soon as he can understand what the creature is saying. He's pretty excited about that, actually. To finally know the little thing's name, to know what it thinks and wants, to be able to communicate. He takes the tank into his room and puts it on his dresser, it fits nicely.

Twenty minutes later finds Dean making supper, frying up vegetables and rice in a big wok. The little Enochian is hesitant to try the rice, it's a little mushy and it sticks to his tiny suckers when he picks it up. When he tastes it, though, he hums thoughtfully and nods at Dean. Dean grins and hands him a bit of fried broccoli which he likes a lot. He makes a happy little pip and holds his tiny hands out for more. Dean grins and hands the little guy more. He's resting in his fishbowl next to the stove again because he likes to watch what Dean does and, Dean thinks, he doesn't like to be left out.

When a knock sounds at the front door Dean turns the burners on the stove to low and goes to answer it while the creature watches curiously from the bowl. When he opens the heavy wooden door he's met with a small Asian man, grinning widely.

"Hi!" Says the guy. "I'm Kevin Tran, we talked on the phone."

"Oh!" Says Dean. "Yeah, come in." He extends his hand to Kevin. "Dean Winchester. I'm just making dinner, you're welcome to stay if you want."

Kevin nods and grasps Dean's hand to shake it firmly. "If you don't mind. We haven't eaten since lunch."

"We?" Dean asks as he ushers Kevin in, checking behind the man for another, nonexistent, person.

"Yeah." He says, gesturing to the pocket on the front of his blue button down. "Me and Gabriel."

A head pops out of the pocket, followed quickly by several tentacles that wave up at him. The little guy - Gabriel - has light brown hair and mischievous green eyes. "Hey there, Dean-o!" He says.

Dean waves awkwardly. "Hi."

"So," Says Kevin. "Where's our other Enochian?"

"Right down to business! I admire that. He's in the kitchen, come on."

They come into the kitchen in time to see the creature trying to maneuver the spatula around in the wok with his tentacles to stir the food. Dean dashes over and takes the spatula just as the little guy begins to lose his grip. It looks up at him, grinning sheepishly, and Dean can't find it in him to anything but amused. He stirs the food quickly and then moves the fishbowl to the table in the middle of the kitchen. He sets it in the middle and the creature makes an excited trilling noise when he sees Kevin and the other Enochian. Kevin moves to the table and sets Gabriel down as the other little guy scrambles out of his fishbowl onto the table, chirping and dripping water everywhere.

Gabriel rushes forward also, and embraces the other creature with his arms as well as his tentacles. They're both squealing and cooing and sort of jumping up and down and it's possibly the most adorable thing that Dean has ever seen. He locks eyes with Kevin, who just smiles and shrugs. The two Enochians settle down after a minute and start chattering rapidly in a language seemingly made up mostly of squeaks and clicks. Gabriel asks for a pen and paper and Dean gets it for him before going back to tend to the stove.

When he's done he puts normal amounts of food on two plates, and small amounts on two more. He sets them out on the table when he sits down he notices that the paper Gabriel asked for is now covered in scribbles and pictures and words in English and some other language. "What's that?" He asks Kevin, pointing to the other language.

"That's Enochi." Kevin explains. "It's what they speak."

Dean nods. "So, why'd you learn it?"

"Well," Kevin begins. "Back when they were discovered a couple of them volunteered to be studied. Just a little, you know. Nothing too invasive. They brought one to my school and I just thought it might be good to know the language."

"Cool." Says Dean. Then he hears Gabriel squeak his name.

"Dean." Gabriel is saying, pointing at him with a dark blue tentacle.

"Dean!" The other creature repeats.

Gabriel nods and gives him a clap on the back, then he notices food and quickly scuttles over. He coos excitedly. "This looks awesome!" he says, before digging in. The other Enochian goes to his food as well, burying his hands in the rice and vegetables to bring them up to his little mouth. They don't use forks, either of them, and they end up making a giant mess.

"So, how's it going?" Dean asks Gabriel in between bites.

"Good!" Gabriel replies through a mouth full of rice. "I'm teaching him some words. I've made a cheat sheet too, so that'll help. Oh! His name is Castiel."

"Castiel." Dean tries it out, rolling it around in his mouth. Castiel perks up at his name, looking hopefully up at Dean. "Castiel, Castiel. How about "Cas"? Can I call him Cas?"

Gabriel chirps something to Castiel, who beams and nods enthusiastically.

"He says that's fine." Says Gabriel, and Dean smiles. He knows the Enochian's name now. Cas. Cas Cas Cas. It's a good name, it fits the little guy. And Dean likes saying it. "Cas." he mutters. When he looks down Cas is smiling up at him.

After dinner Cas and Gabriel get plunked into the bathtub because they have food all over themselves. They splash around eagerly, swimming around each other and blowing bubbles gleefully. Cas finds a rubber duck in the corner and proceeds to bond with it. He trills and guides the duck around in the bathtub. He rams it gently into Gabriel a couple of times and the other Enochian retaliates by splashing him. They're adorable and Dean and Kevin sit beside the bathtub and watch them play.

"So, how did he come to live with you?" Dean asks Kevin.

Kevin shrugs. "He wanted to live on land, I wanted to learn about Enochians. It's beneficial to us both."

Dean nods. "You guys should come over more often." He shifts his attention to the bath. "Hey, Gabe?" He asks, and Gabriel looks up him.

"What's up?"

"You should ask Cas why he was unconscious in the shallows when I found him."

Gabriel cocks his head, but turns to Cas and starts chattering in Enochi. Cas stops playing with the duck and gets a sad look on his face when he squeaks back. Eventually Gabriel looks back up to Dean.

"This is something he'll have to tell you, once he learns English. It's kind of..." He shrugs. "private? It's just not something he wants to talk about just now."

"Okay." Says Dean. "That's fine."

Gabriel relays the message and Cas smiles up at Dean and reaches out a tentacle to gently stroke Dean's hand where it lays on the edge of the tub. Dean moves his thumb to stroke the tentacle and Cas starts to make a pleased purring sound.

"They're pretty cute, huh?" Dean says absently.

Kevin nods. "They're pretty cute."

 

Cas spends his first night in the big tank that night. He seems to enjoy the space, but he seems displeased that he's no longer as close to Dean. Dean pats him on the head and promises to figure something out. He knows Cas can't understand him yet, but he feels like the little guy might at least get the gist.

Dean smiles as he gets into bed, thinking that it's nice to have someone around again, and hopefully he'll even be able to understand the guy soon. That'll be nice.


	4. Sand Castle Construction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go! Next chapter!  
> Let me know about any mistakes i've made. There are undoubtedly some because i'm too lazy to properly proofread.

Dean is awoken the next morning by a small voice chirping "Dean! Dean!"

  
He raises his head slowly from his pillow, blinking sleep out of his eyes, and looks toward the big fish tank. Cas is at the top, leaning over the edge excitedly, his necklace dripping water down the side. "Dean!" He squeaks.

  
"Yeah, yeah." Dean mutters. "I'm getting up." He throws his blanket back and slides off of the bed, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. Cas just watches him happily until he starts head to the bathroom.

  
"Dean! Dean!" He says, frowning.

  
Dean sighs. He'd momentarily forgotten about the Enochian's strange need to _always_ be with him. He thinks it would probably be easier if he could explain to Cas what he has to do, but the little guy only knows a couple words right now.

  
He goes to the tank and Cas holds out some of his tentacles to be picked up, but Dean just holds up a finger. "I'll be right back, okay? I'll just be a minute." He heads to the bathroom again and when he glances back Cas is sitting there looking crestfallen and it's terrible but he can't bring the dude with him while he does his business, okay?

  
He does it quickly, trying to ignore the occasional sad squeaks from the tank in the bedroom, and when he comes back out Cas perks up immediately and raises his tentacles again. Dean lowers his hand to the tank and lets Cas thread his tentacles through his fingers and hoist himself up onto Dean's palm. He smiles gratefully up at Dean, who chuckles and uses his thumb to pet the top of Cas's head.

  
He still has to shower but he doesn't want to leave Cas alone for that long so he fills up the bathroom sink with water and plops Cas into it with the rubber duck. Cas chirps with delight and begins to take the duck on new and exciting adventures around the sink. Dean is endlessly glad that Kevin informed him of the Enochian's tolerance for fresh water, it makes things much easier.

  
Dean gets a towel from under the sink and begins to peel off his clothes. He's down to his underwear when he feels something cool and wet touch his hip. He yelps and spins around, nearly dislodging Cas from where he's at the edge of the sink, stretched out as far as he can go in his attempt to touch Dean. He's looking at the human curiously, obviously trying to figure out what he's doing, or maybe what he's got under his boxers.

  
Dean coughs uncomfortably and doesn't even attempt to explain to Cas why this is weird, just hops into the shower and closes the curtain before stripping off his boxers and tossing them onto the ground.

  
He turns on the water and adjusts the temperature, sighing contentedly when he gets to that sweet spot where the water is _just_ right. As he soaps up his hair he can hear Cas squeaking and splashing in the sink and he smiles to himself.

  
He doesn't notice right away when the splashing stops, and he doesn't think anything about the several soft thumps he hears from outside the shower. What he _does_ notice is when the corner of the shower curtain closest to the toilet is pushed back by tiny hands, revealing one small Enochian standing on the edge of the shower, peeking in curiously.

The first thing Dean does is cover his junk, the second thing is bust out laughing. It's just so ridiculous! This little Enochian is staring up at him with cheerful curiosity, no idea that he's being a little pervert and it's absolutely hilarious. Dean laughs until his sides hurt and he has to lean against the wall.

  
"Dammit, Cas." He says fondly. "You're just a little peeping tom."

  
He reaches down with the hand not cupping his dick and Cas climbs onto it gleefully. He chirps and wriggles his tentacles around when he comes under the shower spray. He climbs up Dean's arm then, and up his shoulder, tiny limbs slapping and sticking against Dean's wet skin, making little suctioning noises. Dean expects Cas to stop at his shoulder, but he doesn't. He keeps climbing, grasping fistfuls (and tentaclefuls) of Dean's hair to pull himself up to the apex. When he reaches the summit of Dean's head he coos happily and buries his slippery tentacles in the man's hair. Dean sighs and, deciding that Cas is no longer in sight of his dick, resumes washing.

  
When he's finished he gets his towel and dries off all of himself exept his head. When it comes time to dry his hair he reaches up to get Cas off of it, but it's easier said than done because Cas does _not_ want to come down. He holds on tight to Dean's hair and makes angry squeaks when Dean tries to pull him off. All it takes, though, is one angry, growled "Cas!" and the little guy lets go, grumbling mutinously as Dean puts him back into the sink.

  
While Dean is toweling off his head though, he forgets his modesty momentarily and misses the way the Enochian gazes curiously at his dick. When his head is dried he wraps the towel around his waist and picks up Cas again. Cas is loathe to leave his duck, so Dean caries it too and puts it in the big tank with Cas, who is delighted. He slips on clean boxers, pants and a Zepplin t shirt and collapses onto the bed again, just for a moment, before bouncing up again.

  
Cas rides on his shoulder to the kitchen, ducky clasped tightly in his tentacles, and Dean lets him off at the kitchen table. The paper with Enochi to English translations that Gabriel made the day before is still there, and Cas sets down his duck to picks it up gently and study it while Dean gets out an assortment of breakfast cereals. He sets the boxes in a row on the table and gestures for Cas to pick one. The Enochian taps the box of Lucky Charms with a tentacle and goes back to reading. Dean pours himself a bowl, then pours Cas a bowl, and sets them both on the table.

  
"Here you go." He says, not bothering to get a spoon for Cas.

  
Cas smiles and looks intently at his paper for a minute. When he looks back up he says "Thank."

  
Dean laughs. "Thank _s_." He corrects, and Cas nods solemnly.

  
"Thanks." He mutters to himself, before moving to the cereal bowl. He climbs into it again, humming happily and splashing in the milk. He _loves_ the marshmallows, he practically screeches with delight at the first taste of the soft, sweet goodness.

  
Dean smiles absently as he eats his cereal and watches Cas play in his own. The Enochian's sense of wonder fills him with a bright happiness that sticks to his insides like gum and refuses to go away.

-o-

  
Today is Sunday, so instead of opening his shop Dean goes running on the beach. Cas is sitting snugly in the space that connects Dean's neck and shoulder, tentacles anchored firmly on the human's shoulder with little suckers.

  
When Dean first starts running Cas shrieks with fear but Dean just rumbles with laughter and keeps going and, before he knows it, Cas is making happy little trills instead. Dean is fast, very fast. He loves to run, loves the sand beneath his feet and the wind in his hair. It's freeing, feels a bit like flying. He's aware that it must feel _a lot_ like flying to the Enochian and when he stops for a rest far down the beach Cas starts cooing and patting Dean gently on the cheek.

  
Dean laughs and goes to his knees on the sand, shorts riding up above his knees. He plucks Cas off his shoulder, despite the creature's protests, and plunks him onto the sand. Cas looks confused by it, his eyes narrowing when the dry granules stick to his damp skin and tentacles like he's never seen sand before. Dean realizes then that he's probably never seen _dry_ sand before. The little guy lived underwater his whole life and sand looks and feels much different when dry.

  
He picks Cas up gently, scooping his hand under Cas's tentacles, and moves them closer to the water. He sets Cas right above where the waves reach. The little guy sees the waves and moves a little closer, he pokes at the wet sand, clicking curiously, and then makes a series of delighted squeaks. "Dean!" He trills. "Dean! Good!"

  
He buries his tentacles in the wet sand, humming softly. Dean watches as he closes his eyes and his whole body shivers contentedly.

  
While the Enochian... does whatever it is he's doing, Dean takes handfuls of the wet sand and starts making a castle. It takes shape slowly and badly, it's crooked and misshapen, but Dean doesn't mind. He sings _Hey Jude_ softly as he builds. He loses himself in it, in the song and the soft sand and the hot sun on his back. He lets his mind drift to nowhere in particular.

  
When he comes back to himself, finally, he finds Cas watching him curiously, still half buried in the sand. He grins at the Enochian, and Cas grins back. The little guy pulls himself out of the sand and darts quickly into a small oncoming wave. Dean has a moment of panic, thinking that his tiny companion is leaving, but then Cas darts back out, free of sand. He comes over to Dean's sand castle, inspecting it with his limbs. He slips inside but, unfortunately, Dean is shit at sandcastle construction and the whole thing collapses on him. Dean chokes on a laugh and quickly begins to scoop the sand away with his cupped hands. He quickly unearths Cas, who wriggles out and glares at Dean.

  
Dean chuckles as Cas darts into the water again to clean himself. When he comes back out he does something odd. He reaches into his mass of tentacles and brings one to the edge. It looks different than the others, slightly shorter and lighter colored. He watches as Cas slowly rubs the limb. After a minute a thick, white substance begins to leak from the end. Cas takes the secretion into his hands and massages it into a clump of wet sand. Then he takes the sand and makes... a cave. A little cave, only slightly larger than himself. When he pokes at it all the walls stay put, unlike Dean's castle, and he gives the human a smug look before crawling into his cave and curling up. He coos softly and Dean reaches in to stroke his soft hair.

  
Eventually they go back, Cas riding happily on Dean's shoulder again, head bobbing sleepily against Dean's cheek. When they reach the house Dean has an idea. Instead of going inside he gets the blue bucket off of his porch and fills it with damp sand. Then he goes inside and pours it into Cas's big tank. It settles at the bottom in a thick layer.  
Cas, who has been watching confusedly, shrieks happily when he sees what Dean is doing. He tries to hug Dean's face, nuzzling his head into Dean's cheek. "Thanks!" He squeaks.

  
Dean smiles and turns his head to place a quick kiss into Cas's hair. The Enochian shrieks, startled, and covers his face with his hands. He peeks out after a minute to find the human still there, grinning at him.

  
They spend the rest of the day on the beach outside Dean's house. By the end they've amassed quite an impressive collection of shells and rocks, sea glass and even some odd sticks, which they proceed to place in Cas's big tank.

  
Dean watches happily as Cas arranges things to his liking, putting a shell here and some glass there. He hums while he decorates, a smile gracing his face.  
Dean swallows thickly as the happiness threatens to drown him. But he doesn't move away, he doesn't leave. He basks in it.


	5. Burgers and Chess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's kind of a short chapter!  
> Let me know if you spot any mistakes!

 

  
Cas has been studying English hard. Dean taped a copy of the language cheat sheet to the outside of the back of Cas's tank, so he could read it at night. So when Kevin and Gabriel come to visit again Cas knows a little of the language. He and Gabriel still speak in chirps and squeaks though, gesturing with their tentacles.

  
They're sitting in a large plastic bowl full of water on the kitchen table while Kevin clicks away at his laptop nearby. Gabriel keeps ruffling Cas's hair with his tentacle and Cas slaps it away and squeaks at him.  When Dean walks by and ruffles Cas's hair with his finger the Enochian just pouts up at him, frustratedly. Dean laughs and gets back to cooking dinner, he's got burgers on the stove and french fries in the oven, they fill the air with mouth watering smells and soon the two Enochian's are leaning over the edge of their bowl in anticipation. Dean makes two smaller burgers for the little guys.

  
Turns out, Cas loves burgers. He coos softly and shuts his eyes when he takes bites. The juice runs down his chin and chest, dripping onto his necklace. Afterward he uses a tentacle to wipe off his mouth and grins up at Dean.

  
"Thank you, Dean!" He squeaks. "This very good."

  
"This _is_ very good." Corrects Gabriel.

  
Cas nods. "This _is_ very good." He beams up at Dean and the man can't help the answering smile that grows on his lips.

  
"You're welcome, Cas." He says sincerely. The little Enochian looks so proud of himself.

  
Dean takes one of his fries and holds it out to Cas, the little guy takes it gently in a tentacle. When he takes a bite he let's out a series of excited trills.

  
"Mmmm!" Is all the Enochian says before he devours the whole thing, and then proceeds to eat all of the fries on his own plate.

  
By the end of the meal Cas is a groaning, bloated mess. His little belly is protruding so much he looks a little pregnant and Gabriel keeps teasing him, asking when he's going to lay eggs. Cas just grumbles and slaps Gabriel with a tentacle. After a while the two Enochians get a bath in the tub in the guest bathroom again, to wash all the salt and burger juice off. Dean and Kevin sit next to the tub and the little guys twirl gracefully through the water. Cas, of course, has his ducky. He likes to swim pushing it in front of him and ram it into an unsuspecting Gabriel.

  
Cas also likes it when Dean helps him wash, although Dean doesn't know why. He'll squeak frustratedly at Dean until the man puts his hand into the water, then he'll climb happily into the hand and hold up one tentacle at a time while Dean washes them gently.

  
Next to Dean, Kevin squints. "He lets you wash him?"

  
Dean nods. "He whines like a baby unless I do it. Why, is that weird?"

  
Kevin shrugs. "Gabe pitches a fit if I try to help with his bath." To illustrate his point he reaches down toward Gabriel, who slaps Kevin's hand away and glares at him. Kevin raises his eyebrows in as if to say "see?" and then shrugs again. "But, it could be that Gabe is the weird one."

  
"Huh." Says Dean. He looks over at Gabriel for an explanation but the Enochian just shrugs and goes back to his bath.

  
"Dean! Wash!" Comes a small voice from Dean's hand, reminding him that he's not preforming his apparent bath duties. He turns back and gives an expectant looking Cas a grin.

  
"I know, I know. Hold your horses." He says, and starts to wash Cas again.

  
Cas cocks his head to the side. "Hor-ses?" He turns to Gabriel and they have a quick conversation in chirps, where Cas looks increasingly confused and Gaberiel rolls his eyes a lot. Finally Cas just grumbles, looking put out, and the conversation seems to end. Then, though, Cas perks up.

  
"Dean!" He squeaks. "Want to show Gabe nest!"

  
"Nest?" Dean asks, confused.

  
"Nest!" Cas says, wiggling his tentacles excitedly.

  
"Does he have a tank?" Gabriel asks.

  
"Oh, yeah." Says Dean

  
"It's probably there." Says Gabriel.

  
So they finish the bath, drain the tub, and make their way to Dean's bedroom. Cas sits on Dean's shoulder, gripping his ear tightly. When they get to the tank Cas squeaks "Nest!" excitedly and leaps into the tank, not even waiting for Dean to lower him in. He splashes them all with water, but Dean doesn't really mind. Gabriel waits for Kevin to lower him to the water before slipping off, into the water. The two Enochians swim around the tank, Cas gesturing to things amd chirping happily.

  
"This is a nice tank." Kevin says. "Lots of room. You even let him decorate! The sand was a nice touch."

  
"Well, yeah." Replies Dean. "It's his tank." He smiles softly. "Looks pretty nice, too. He's even made himself a little cave, too." He points. "He made it with some goop from one of his tentacles."

  
Kevin coughs. "That's, uh, that's not... never mind."

  
Dean scrunches his eyebrows. "What?"

  
Kevin sighs and clears his throat. "It's semen. Enochians use their semen as a binding agent when they build."

  
Dean just stands there with his mouth hanging open like an idiot. "So... when he... was he... was he _jacking off!?_ "

  
"It's not a sexual thing, man." Kevin says, shaking his head. "It's just how they build stuff. Enochian anatomy is kinda weird. They're hermaphroditic, so they've got a penis but they've got a vagina too. They ejaculate sperm from the penis, and ink from the vagina, but they've also got a separate appendage that can produce sperm in a non-sexual way."

  
Dean stares at Kevin for a long time. "TMI, dude." He says finally, and goes back to watching the Enochians swim happily in the tank.

 

Later on, after Kevin and Gabriel have gone, Dean tries to teach Cas how to play chess. It's difficult to explain the rules, but it's okay, Dean ends up just letting Cas ignore most of them anyway. The little guy picks up the chess pieces with his tentacles and walks them across the board and it's so cute Dean thinks he might burst. He reaches over the board periodically to ruffle Cas's hair with his pinky and the Enochian grumbles and pouts. In the end, Dean says Cas is the winner, although by that time the game they were playing barely resembled chess. Cas puffs up proudly, grinning big. He climbs up Dean's arm and, before the man can wonder what he's doing, he starts giving Dean little kisses on the cheek. Dean laughs and turns his head and Cas happily gives him a kiss on the nose. Dean responds by kissing Cas on the top of the head, making the little guy blush scarlet.

 

 

Dean goes to sleep that night wondering what he'd done before Cas came around. He'd though he was happy, but now he's not so sure.

 


	6. The Perils of Daytime Television

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of Cas's POV in this chapter, I hope it isn't too awkward.

Turns out, Cas likes television... a lot. Dean brings a small tv out to the shop so that they can watch it while Dean is working, he sets it on the end of the L shaped counter closest to the window. He flips through the channels slowly while Cas sits in front of the tv eagerly. When he sees something he wants to watch he wiggles his tentacles excitedly and squeaks "Dean! Dean!". He seems to enjoy a strange medley of cartoons and daytime soap operas and, strangely, it helps with his vocabulary.

They're watching Scooby Doo at the moment, Cas tracks the movements on the screen carefully, hands clasped in front of him in strange reverence. As he watches, he'll repeat a word or name silently to himself, lips moving soundlessly. On the tv Freddy calls Daphne over and Dean sees Cas mouth the word _Daphne._ He's confused, but excited, about Scooby. Every time the talking dog comes on screen he'll reach over and tug on Dean's shirt with a tentacle.

  
"Dean! Dean! The talking dog!" Cas trills, eyes glued to the screen.

  
Dean leans over. "Sure is, buddy. Looks like they're getting close to unmasking the monster, too."

  
On screen, Shaggy and Scooby run from the monster, their legs spin in circles as they run in mid-air before speeding away. Cas frowns and looks down at his own mass of slippery appendages.

  
"Mine don't do that." Dean hears Cas mutter to himself. The little guy turns to Dean. "Why don't mine do that?" He wonders.

  
Dean laughs. "Nobody's do that, buddy. It isn't real."

  
Cas cocks his head to the side, his eyebrows dawn together in confusion. "I don't understand." He says after a moment.

  
"It's just pretend. The things we watch on the tv aren't real, it's just... stories."

  
"Hmm." Cas hums. He still looks confused, but he turns back to the tv. He watches it differently afterward, he looks slightly suspicious instead of reverent. He still watches, though, and after a while the suspicious look slides off of his face and it's replaced slowly with reverence again. Apparently, just because it isn't real doesn't mean it isn't wonderful.

  
-o-

  
Cas loves Dean's skin, spotty and covered with hair. He sits on the man's bare chest while he reads in bed, gently poking and prodding. Occasionally he'll hear Dean huff a laugh above him and when Cas looks up he'll find the human looking at him with an amused smile on his face. Cas just squeaks happily and continues his exploration.

  
Dean's skin is warm and brown and soft, when Cas presses on it it springs back immediately. His own skin is pale and cool and generally moist, he wonders if Dean minds. The little dark spots make him happy, Dean calls them "freckles" and he's absolutely covered in them. The man has them on his face, his shoulders, his chest and his belly. He also has them on his legs. Cas thinks Dean has probably got them in the other place too, the place he always keeps covered, but he doesn't know for sure because Dean wont let him see. He caught a glimpse of it the day he snuck into Dean's shower, but he didn't think to look closely then and  the man has been careful to keep it hidden since then. It confuses Cas that Dean would keep a particular part of his body covered constantly. Gabriel has explained to him that humans wear clothes for warmth and protection, but Dean often goes shirtless, and around the house he sometimes goes pantless. He's never without the strange bit of clothing that Gabriel has informed him is called an "Underwear" though. Cas wonders if maybe the skin on that part of humans is especially sensitive, or maybe it's considered very ugly. The one look he got at that part of Dean's body was quick, but he didn't think it was particularly grotesque. In fact, thinking back, he'd say that it was just as nice looking as the rest of Dean. Cas frowns and thinks that perhaps if he were to assure Dean that he finds _all of him_ pleasing to look at then maybe the man would let him inspect the covered area.

  
For now, though, he is content with counting the freckles he _can_ see. He climbs up Dean's body to his face and begins poking each freckle with tentacle and counting but then Dean starts laughing and he loses count. Cas huffs and starts over, but he's aware now that Dean is watching him and it makes it hard to concentrate.

  
"What are you doing, Cas?" Dean asks after a while.

  
"Counting freckles." Cas says distractedly as he finishes counting the ones on Dean's face and starts on his neck. "Shh." he warns, poking Dean in the lip.

  
Dean just chuckles and goes back to his book.

  
It takes a long time to count all of the freckles he can see and he's sure he must have counted at least a few of them twice. He also keeps getting distracted by the course hair on Dean's chest, then the soft hair on his arms and legs. He runs his hands through it happily, it's not as good as the hair on Dean's head, but it's a close second. Dean squirms when Cas inspects his feet, and Cas grins at his wiggling toes.

  
Finally, Cas  goes back to the clothed bit. When he looks up, Dean is reading his book, paying him no attention, so Cas tries to slip under the material that puckers up at Dean's thigh. Dean feels it though, as Cas tries to wriggle under sneakily, and quickly reaches down to pull him out.

  
"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" Dean asks.

  
Cas squirms in his grip. "I need to see, Dean! I need to count all of your freckles!" He finally slips out of Dean's grasp. "Do not worry, Dean, I do not find your covered parts hideous." He squeaks, and quickly begins to slide under the fabric again. Dean quickly catches him again though, and this time he brings Cas up and sets him on his chest.

  
"You can't go under there, Cas." He says seriously.

  
"Why?" Cas wonders.

  
"Because it's, well, it's private, alright? My... covered parts... aren't something a lot of people are supposed to see. Um, let's see... do your people get married or... mate or something?"

  
"Enochians take mates, yes." Cas says, confused. He can't imagine what Enochian mating habits would have to do with Dean's covered parts.

  
"Well, you know the... uh... the organs you use to mate with? You know, the... interlocking bits." Dean says, a blush begins to creep up his cheeks.

  
Cas nods. "Yes."

  
"Well, uh, that's what I've got under there. So it's kind of private."

  
"Oh." Cas says thoughtfully. "Well I could show you mine, if you wish." It only seems fair, because he saw Dean's without permission. Also, maybe if Dean sees Cas's he'll stop being embarrassed and let Cas examine his mating bits for freckles.

  
"No, no. That's okay." Dean says, unfortunately. "Let's just all keep our bits private for now, okay?"

  
Cas huffs frustratedly. He _wants to see!_ He glares mutinously at a freckle on Dean's chest for a long time before he feels a puff of breath and when he looks up Dean is leaning forward so that he's right in Cas's face. He swoops forward and places a kiss on Cas's belly.

Cas squeaks in surprise and smacks at Dean with his slippery limbs. Dean just laughs and kisses his belly again. Cas glares, but it doesn't seem to have any affect so eventually he gives up and climbs to Dean's face. He purposely pokes Dean in the nose when he climbs, still frustrated, but his anger disappears when he gets to Dean's head. The hair there is so soft and warm and Cas buries himself in it, cooing happily as he's enveloped by Dean's comforting smell. He smiles to himself as Dean gets comfortable again and goes back to reading.

 

Eventually they both fall into a calm sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part of this chapter where Cas examines Dean is inspired by [this](http://bruisedcastiel.tumblr.com/post/58194625370/i-want-a-100k-fic-of-just-tiny-octo-cas-examining) post on tumblr.


	7. Marigold

The discovery that Cas likes to sing comes one night when Dean is giving him a bath. Cas _can_ bathe on his own, but he refuses to. If Dean tries to leave him to do it on his own he starts squeaking and shrieking and he'll climb out of the bathtub and follow, trailing water and bubbles through the house. So Dean stays and helps him. He rubs soap into Cas's hair and all over his little tentacles. The Enochian squirms and purrs when Dean rubs his finger down a tentacle, his face goes all red and it makes Dean smile.

  
So Dean is in the bathroom with Cas after dinner. Cas, of course, has made a mess of himself again. He's puttering around in the soapy bathwater pushing Mr. Duck ahead of him when Dean hears him start to hum. Dean smiles to himself and goes back to arranging the magazines in the basket next to the sink. A few minutes later, though, he starts to be able to make out words in Cas's humming. When he realizes that Cas is singing the theme to Scooby Doo he has to bite his knuckle to keep from busting out laughing.

 

Cas, of course, hears his chuckling anyway.

  
"What is humorous?" He squeaks.

  
Dean takes a second to calm himself before turning to the Enochian. "I just didn't know you could sing, buddy." He explains.

  
Cas squints. "I don't understand how my singing is humorous, Dean. Is this a human practice? I have seen nothing of it on the television."

  
He looks so earnest and Dean has to bite his lip to keep from laughing again because there's no way he can explain to Cas why a tiny octopus-man singing the Scooby Doo theme is so damn funny.

  
He shakes his head. "It's not. I'm just bein' silly."

  
Cas nods, as if that makes sense. "You are often silly, Dean." He hums.

  
Dean chuckles and reaches down to tickle the Enochian's belly. Cas shrieks his laughter and tries to slap Dean's hand away, to no avail.

  
-o-

 

Cas hates sleeping so far away from Dean, so eventually they set up a table under the window next to Dean's bed and move the tank there. Cas is beside himself with excitement. The first thing he does is show Dean how now he can climb out of his tank and come visit Dean in bed. He wiggles over to where Dean is laying and curls up under the man's chin. Cas is sopping wet but Dean doesn't complain because the little guy is cooing happily and contentedly.

 

-o-

 

Dean is gardening in front of his shop. He's got lots of pots lined up and he's filling them with soil. He has little flowers lined up in their temporary planters ready to transfer. Cas sits on his shoulder, hands grasping his ear and tentacles stuck firmly to his skin. He cranes his neck, trying to see what Dean is doing. 

 

"What's that?" he squeaks curiously, extending a tentacle toward a flower.

 

"That's a marigold." Dean replies. He wipes sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving behind a smudge of dirt.

 

"Marigold." Repeats Cas. "Marigold, marigold." He nods to himself. "I like those."

 

After a while Cas climbs down Dean's arm  and sits on his wrist to poke at the dirt with a tentacle. He hums thoughtfully. "Can I help?" he wonders.

 

Dean smiles. "Course you can! Here." he hands the Enochian a small bluebell with dirt clinging to its roots. "Put that in this." He points to a pot with a small hole already in the soil.

 

Cas hops off Dean's wrist and moves along from one pot to another, along the edges, until he gets to the one with the hole in the soil. Dean watches him go, chuckling as Cas weaves his way clutching the flower with two of his long limbs. He seems to be afraid that he'll break it. He places it gently in the hole and then begins to push dirt in around it, like he's seen Dean doing. Then Dean hears him start to sing. At first, he can't tell what Cas is singing, but after a minute Cas gets louder and Dean can hear him. He's singing _Hey Jude_. 

 

Dean swallows. A warm feeling grows slowly in his belly, Cas must have picked it up from all the times Dean sings it around the house. He watches the Enochian for a while, then... he starts to sing too. Cas looks up at him, surprised. This is the first time Dean has ever sung with him. He smiles big.

 

A little later, when Cas is focused on something else, Dean takes one of the little marigolds in its small pot and puts it aside.

 

 

Later on, Dean puts the little pot with the marigold next to Cas's tank.

 

"It's for you, buddy." He says in response to Cas's curious trills. "It's your marigold. You can take care of it, make sure it gets big and strong."

 

Cas smiles and reaches out to run his hand gently along the edge of the flower. "Thank you, Dean." He says earnestly. And then "I will name it Anael."

 

"You don't have to name it, Cas, it's a flower."

 

Cas frowns. "It needs a name if I am to care for it, Dean."

  
Dean shakes his head and chuckles. "Yeah, okay."

 

-o-

 

Dean slides into the bath. The gardening wore him out and now he just wants to relax. He sighs deeply and leans his head back onto the lip of the tub. Everything is quiet.

Everything is serene.

 

"Dean!" A voice chirps.

 

Dean groans and opens one eye to see Cas, who he'd left in the sink, sitting there on the lip holding a dripping Mr. Duck.

 

"Dean, are we having a bath?"

 

Dean sighs. " _I'm_ having a bath, Cas."

 

"Okay." Says Cas. He reaches out a tentacle and dips it in the water, testing the temperature, before wiggling once and jumping in. Water splashes up Dean's chest and he hears Cas giggle.

 

"I _mean_ ," Dean says, grabbing a wash rag to put over his junk. "that I'm taking one _alone_."

 

Cas stops swimming in circles and looks up at him. "You... you don't want me here?" His eyes grow large and Dean can see the beginnings of a pout on the Enochian's lips. 

 

He slaps a hand over his eyes. "No, no. That's not what I meant. Just... sometimes I need some alone time, okay?" 

 

Cas lowers his eyes and slaps dejectedly at Mr. Duck and, yes, he's definitely pouting now.

 

Dean groans. "Fine. You can stay."

 

Cas squeaks excitedly, all traces of sadness instantly gone from his little face. He climbs up Dean's chest and drapes himself over the man's pectoral, cooing softly. 

 

"Hey, Cas?" Dean says quietly after a while. 

 

"Yes, Dean?" 

 

"When I found you, you were unconscious. Why was that?"

 

Cas is quiet for a while, when Dean looks down at him he's picking his nails. "I was in the... hmm" he scrunches his face. "I think the closest word would be "guard", maybe. Or "police". Your police very similar. I... protected my kind. I enjoyed it. But then, things were wrong. We didn't protect the people who needed protecting. I disagreed... and I was punished. And then... you found me." He looks up at Dean then, his eyes are hesitant.

 

Dean blinks. He never would have thought of Cas as a cop before. Cas is silly and strange and sweet. It's odd that, in another world, Cas was the equivalent of a cop. 

 

Cas nuzzles his head into Dean's chest.

 

Dean shakes his head, he can't just can't see it.


	8. Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is such a short chapter, I'm moving this week and I haven't had a lot of time to write.

Cas loves Sam. When the big man comes over to visit he lets the little Enochian sit next to his laptop on the table while he works. Sometimes Sam lets Cas press some of the keys too. Cas asks a million questions about the machine, and Sam answers them all patiently, as best he can. If Cas is particularly dry Sam will let him climb onto the keys and click around. At the moment, he's doing just that.

  
Sam is up helping Dean chop onions and as soon as he's not there Cas scrambles onto the keys and starts jumping around. His little limbs make strange sticky noises on the keys, and he squeals with delight when his random key mashing gets him anything.

  
Later on, Sam shows him how to work a mouse. Cas isn't very coordinated with it, he has trouble moving the thing around, and he's also very confused as to why this device is named after a rodent, to which Sam has no answer.

  
Together, the two of them research Enochians/Octo Sapiens on the internet while Dean finishes cooking. Cas is getting better at reading, but he's still not great so Sam reads articles and things aloud and Cas will titter "Oh yes, that's true." or squeak "We don't do that _at all!_ ".

  
When he finds something that's incorrect he'll huff and grumble and try to hit keys to make it go away.

  
"Cas, stop that!" Sam harps. He reaches over and plucks the little guy off of the keyboard.

  
"But Sam!" Cas squeals, wriggling in Sam's grip. "They have it all wrong! That is _not_ how my kind mate!"

  
"Well," Sam shrugs. "there's not a lot we can do about it."

  
"Make it _go away!_ " Cas grumbles, as Sam finally sets him down.

  
"That's not how the internet works, buddy." Sam tries to explain.

  
Cas, however, is having none of it. "No no no! You have to tell them, Sam! They've got it wrong! We do _not_ mate like _squid!_ " He grumbles something about barbaric creatures.

  
Sam rubs his hand over his mouth and decides to give up trying to explain. "Okay, Cas." He says.

  
Cas crosses his arms over his little chest and nods, satisfied. He spends the rest of the evening curled up in Sam's hair.

  
-o-

  
The next day is the hottest day of the summer. Dean feels like he's melting. He ends up closing the store because no one comes in and even with the AC he's dripping sweat. He's a little jealous of Cas, who just stays in his water all day and is perfectly fine.

  
Night brings a little relief, but not much. He strips down to his boxers before climbing into bed on top of the sheets. Halfway through the night, though, he wakes again. He's so hot, too hot. Everything is the worst. He goes to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face, careful to be quiet as to not wake Cas. When he comes back he sighs because it's still _so damn hot_. Finally, he sheds his boxers. Without them, the heat is almost tolerable. He does drape a thin sheet over his groin, but it's still better. He sighs in relief and slips, finally, back to sleep.

  
-o-

  
Cas peers curiously out of his tank. He saw Dean get up about a half hour ago and go into the bathroom. When he came back he took off his "Underwear" and went back into the bed. Now he's snoring softly with only a thin bit of blanket covering the part of him he's been so diligent in hiding. Cas pulls himself up over the lip of his tank and slips down the other side. He moves silently over the little table that holds his tank, and onto the bed. It's springy and dry under his tentacles, soaking up the excess water that drips off of him.

  
Cas stops when he gets to the bit of blanket. He is aware that he isn't supposed to do this, but he needs to know! He has explored the rest of Dean, mapped him out, counted all of his freckles. But not in this spot. This _one_ spot has been kept from him, and he needs to know why.

  
He reaches out and tentatively draws the thin blanket to the side. Beneath it is... not what he expected. There is nothing surprising or grotesque, the skin there looks much the same the skin on the rest of the human's body, albeit a little paler. There are freckles here too, Cas notes happily, and lying in between what Cas has been told are called _"thighs"_ is a strange bit that he thinks might possibly be an extra appendage. A soft... short appendage. Cas shrugs, he'll inspect that later. Now, his mission is to count the freckles. He licks each one softly as he counts it. He doesn't do that part when Dean is awake, for some reason the human doesn't seem to like it when Cas tastes him. Cas finds it comforting, though, to lick new things. And Dean tastes nice, salty and earthy and something else that's distinctly _Dean_ that Cas can't really put a tentacle on. He coos happily as he goes, there are many new freckles here. The skin seems a little softer, too.

  
After he has successfully counted all of the freckles he moves over Dean's thigh, careful not to tickle, to check out the other appendage. At first inspection, it seems useless. It's limp and strange and it just _lays_ there. Cas pokes at it with a tentacle, it's very soft. At its base is a bunch of wiry hair. Cas runs his his hand through it, but he doesn't like the texture, it isn't like the hair on Dean's head. The thing doesn't seem to have any bones it it, and Cas wonders how Dean controls it. He likes the skin on it, though. It's the softest of any skin on Dean's body, and it's strangely wrinkly. He pokes and prods at it, gently of course so he doesn't wake Dean. Then an odd thing happens; it begins to change under his ministrations. It starts to swell, to thicken. The swelling makes it not soft anymore. Above him, Dean mutters restlessly.

  
It's not until the thing is so swollen that it's curved upward toward Dean's stomach that Cas realizes what it is. The knowledge comes with a start, and the memory of Dean saying that this is where his "interlocking bits" are. Cas hadn't put two and two together before, because his own "bits" look much different. They're sheathed, for one.

  
He stops poking at it once he realizes what it is, but now he feels guilty. It's laying there all red and swollen and _he caused that._ There's another feeling, a hot feeling that shoots sharply to his own mating parts, making them begin to swell a little and poke out of their sheathe. _This_ feeling wants to finish what he started, wants to see if he can bring Dean to completion. He can't, though, because Dean is a human and he doesn't feel that way about Cas. Cas sighs, resigned, and places the sheet back over Dean's groin before going back across the bed and shimmying up the side of his tank.

  
He's very lucky to have Dean, he thinks as he watches the man sleep, not for the first time. But he wishes they were the same species, because he can't help feeling like Dean would be a wonderful mate.

 


	9. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little chapter. It's my brother's birthday today, he's turning eighteen!

Cas has been acting odd lately. It takes a few days before Dean notices, but when he does he's fairly confused. Cas has been watching him more, mimicking his movements. Instead of giggling, Cas has started blushing when Dean tickles his tummy.

  
The first time Dean really realizes something is wrong is when he goes to give Cas a bath and Cas waves him out.  
"Go away, Dean!" He screeches.

  
Dean scrunches his eyebrows in confusion where he kneels by the bath. Cas always wants Dean with him when he bathes. "What? Why?"

  
"Baths are private, Dean." Cas says firmly.

  
Dean considers pointing out that Cas invaded the big man's bath less than a week ago and basically guilted him into letting him stay, but then thinks better of it.

  
"Yeah, okay." He says slowly as he stands. "I'll just... be in the bedroom. Yell if you need me, I guess." And he leaves.

  
He expects Cas to yell for him at some point, at the very least to help him get out of the tub. He doesn't though. Dean can hear splashing and humming coming from the bathroom and he feel strangely lonesome. After a while he hears the sound of tentacles slapping against tile and Cas comes scuttling out the bathroom, dripping wet. He tries to climb onto the bed, but can't quite make it.

  
He huffs frustratedly. "Dean!" He squeaks.

  
Dean leans over the edge of the bed. Cas is sitting there waiting, tentacles raised. Dean lowers his hand so that Cas can climb on. The little guy wriggles up Dean's arm to his shoulder and quickly hides his face behind Dean's ear.

  
"You have a good bath, Cas?" Dean wonders. He's a little hurt that Cas didn't want him to be there, but he's trying not to let it show.

  
Cas hums. "Yes, Dean. It was a good bath."

  
Water drips into Dean's shirt, down his chest. He turns his head quickly to give Cas a kiss on the head but the Enochian slaps him away with his tentacles. "No, Dean!"

  
Dean stills. He likes to think he's pretty tough, but, as much as he's unwilling to admit it, this is kind of hurting his feelings. Cas has never had a problem with kisses or baths before, but now he's suddenly slapping Dean and telling him to go away and the human really has no idea what he's done wrong.

  
"Why not, Cas?" He wonders.

  
"You shouldn't." Cas replies in a small voice.

  
"I thought you liked kisses."

  
Cas is quiet for a minute. "Kisses are for mates." He says finally.

  
"Oh." Says Dean. It makes sense but... it makes him a little sad. He likes giving Cas kisses. He likes seeing him blush and squirm and hearing him giggle. And now, suddenly, he's not allowed to do that anymore. He doesn't like this at all.

-o-

Kevin and Gabriel are over. Dean is showing Kevin something in the shop while Cas and Gabe hang out in the living room watching tv. Cas is, honestly, loathe to bring up what's on his mind to Gabriel, but he doesn't really have anyone else to talk to.

  
It's during an old episode of a show called "Arther" that Cas can't quite figure out that he gains the courage to breach the subject.

  
"Gabe," he starts. "have you ever.... taken a mate?"

  
Gabriel over at him speculatively. "Yes." He says after a while. "I had a mate back when I lived in the water. Her name was Kali." He sounds a little sad.

  
"What happened?" Cas wonders.

  
Gabriel shrugs. "She left."

  
"Oh." Says Cas. "I'm sorry, Gabriel."

  
"It happens." The other Enochian replies. He reaches over to poke Cas in the shoulder with a tentacle. "Why do you ask? Got your eye on someone?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

  
Cas sighs. "Promise you won't tell?"

  
Gabe makes an _x_ across his chest. "Cross my heart."

  
Cas squints in confusion.

  
Gabriel rolls his eyes. "It means yes. Come on, spill!"

  
Cas fidgets, twiddling his tentacles much in the same way he's seen Dean doing with his thumbs. "I... I may be developing feelings for Dean."

 

"Oh." Says Gabriel. "That could be a problem."

 

"Is it bad?" Cas wonders.

 

"Could be. Have you talked to him about it?"

 

Cas shakes his head vehemently. "What if he gets rid of me?"

 

Gabriel puts a calming hand on Cas's shoulder. "I don't think he's the type to do that." He says

 

Cas sighs. "He's wonderful and kind and smart. But I'm so small and strange."

 

"You should talk to him." Says Gabriel

 

"Maybe." Cas replies.

-o-

In the shop, Dean leans against the front counter.

 

"Man, Cas has been acting weird lately."

 

"How so?" Kevin wonders.

 

"He made me leave when he was taking a bath yesterday. And apparently I'm not allowed to kiss him anymore. He said it's just for mates, but he's always let me do it before. I dunno, it's just weirding me out. What if he's unhappy?"

 

Kevin just gives him a strange look. "I don't really know about any of this, Dean. I think You're going to have to talk to Cas about this."

 

"Yeah, okay, but you know about Enochian mating, right?"

 

"Um, a bit. I mean, they choose someone and then they're with them. It's not terribly different from human marriage." Kevin supplies.

 

"Huh." Says Dean.

-o-

It's not like Dean has been thinking about it, because he totally hasn't. Sure, Cas is adorable and funny, but he's a different species. It would never work, would it? Not that he's been thinking about it. Apparently Enochian mating habits aren't that different from Human ones and Dean can't imagine that Cas's wiggly appendages would feel _bad_ on his.... ahem. He isn't thinking about it.

-o-

Shit. He's totally thinking about it.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My [tumblr](http://frecklesandmisterblueeyes.tumblr.com/)


	10. Mates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the last chapter! Sorry to just spring it on you like this, I didn't know this was going to be the last chapter until I wrote it :p  
> I may write little bitty octo!cas ficlets on [my tumblr](http://frecklesandmisterblueeyes.tumblr.com/) though.
> 
> Thank you guys for reading this and commenting and EVERYTHING, I just love you all so much!
> 
> WARNING: This chapter is Mature, or maybe Explicit, I'm not super sure of the difference...

The thing is, now that Dean has thought about it ( _it_ ) he can't seem to stop. He likes Cas. A lot. The little guy has become an important part of his life. He's really not sure what to do.

 

 

 

Cas moves his Orc figurine across the board. He points at two enemy archer figures nearby. "I'm going to hit that one!" He declares.

  
Dean hands him the two required dice, and the Enochian tosses them across the table. He can't really shake them, so mostly he just throws them as hard as he can. It has resulted in a few lost dice and a broken vase, but it's generally amusing enough that no one cares.

  
Cas beams when he sees his role, Charlie cheers. "You fuckin' smoked him!" She yells. "Awesome job!"

  
She hold her palm up near Cas, who slaps it with a tentacle. He skitters across the board to collect the archer personally, and hold it triumphantly above his head before moving back off.

  
Charlie laughs loudly at Cas's antics before moving to take her own turn. She's been coming around more lately. First she came once with Kevin, and now just comes over all the time. Dean is glad, she's quickly becoming one of his best friends.

  
Everyone is here tonight: Charlie, Kevin, Gabriel and Sam. It's quickly becoming routine to have Saturday night game night at Dean's place, and Dean doesn't mind a bit.

  
Dean looks around the table, and a warm feeling grows in his chest. He cares about everyone here, they're his friends. It feels good to have friends again. For a while he'd kept mostly to himself. He realizes with a start that if it hadn't been for Cas he probably would never have met most of these people.

 

 

 

"Do I need clothes, Dean?" Cas asks one day, from inside his tank. He's peeking his head over the edge, resting it on a tentacle.

  
"What?" Wonders Dean.

  
"Clothes. You wear clothes. I wish to be more like you." He trills.

  
"You're just fine the way you are, Cas." Dean says. He holds his hand just above the water so that Cas can climb up onto his palm. Once there, he looks up at Dean. He looks a little sad.

  
"I wish I were bigger." He admits.

  
Dean rubs his thumb over Cas's hair, ruffling it.  Cas slaps at the human, pouting up at him. "This is serious, Dean!"

  
Dean huffs a laugh. "You're perfect, buddy. Why are you worrying about this all of a sudden?"

  
Cas doesn't answer. He just bites his lip and looks away. Dean thinks he sees a blush sneaking up the Enochian's body, but he doesn't get a chance to look because Cas is scampering up his arm and neck to sit on his head. He buries himself in the man's soft hair, making soft cooing sounds. He refuses to come down for the rest of day.

 

 

 

Dean in on his back, in bed, staring at the ceiling. He can't get to sleep, he's been trying for hours, but he just can't. It doesn't help that he's incredibly horny for no discernible reason. He's been waiting for Cas to go to sleep, because he wants to jerk off but he doesn't want to have to to it the bathroom at the own house. He's got lube and napkins in his bedside table, he's all ready.

  
Finally, he thinks Cas is asleep. When he looks over at the tank he can see the little guy curled up in his cave.

  
Dean reaches down to push the blankets off of his groin, then hooks his thumbs into the waistband of his boxers and pulls them down and off of his legs. They get tossed to the floor.

  
He strokes his dick dryly a few times, just getting the feel, before reaching over and grabbing the lube. He squirts some into his hand and puts the bottle away.

  
His hand comes down to wrap tightly around his dick, and he begins to stroke, teasing his slit with his thumb on the downstroke. He moans quietly, lowering his other hand to play with his balls. He closes his eyes. It feels so good, and he's so lost in it, that he doesn't hear the quiet splash, or the pitter patter of small tentacles across the table.

  
What he does finally hear is the quiet gasp.

  
Dean's eyes fly open and he looks down. There, sitting on the bed next to Dean's bare hip, is Cas. He's dripping water everywhere, staring open mouthed at Dean's hand as it moves feverishly along his length.

  
"Shit!" Dean exclaims, he lets go of his genitals to  grab his blanket and throw it over his bottom half. "Fuck, Cas! I thought you were asleep!"

  
Cas looks up at him, he takes a breath. "Let me help!" He says.

  
"What?"

  
Cas grabs the edge of the blanket and starts to pull it up. "Let me help!" He says again.

  
And if he says that that doesn't send a bolt of longing straight up his spine he'll be lying, but he can't take advantage of Cas, and he's sure the little guy doesn't realize what he's saying.

  
"Cas." He says, trying to calm his pulse. "Why don't you go back to bed."

  
Cas crosses his arms over his chest and glares up at Dean. "I know what you're doing, Dean." He chirps. "I am not a _child_! And I wish to help."

  
Dean stills, and before his brain can catch up to him, he's opening his mouth. "Okay." He says, and he jerks back the cover.

  
Cas stares up at his dick again, this time his face is determined. He quickly climbs up Dean's hip, making the man squirm. He wastes no time, going straight for Dean's dick and wrapping all of his tentacles around it.

  
When he starts to move them all together Dean drops his head back to his pillow. "Fuuuuuuck." He breathes.

  
One of Cas's tentacles comes away and winds down to play with Dean's balls and the man has to bite his lip to keep from shouting.

  
He's thought about how good those slippery limbs would feel on his length before, but his imaginings do the real thing no justice at all. It feels so good, so soft and smooth and Cas is rubbing at Dean's slit with one of his long limbs.

  
Dean let's out a shout when he comes, throwing his head back and closing his eyes tight against the sensory overload.

  
When he he finally looks down he almost laughs out loud. Cas is sitting next to Dean's slowly softening dick, scowling and covered in come. Dean laugh dies on his lips when the Enochian begins to lick the come off of himself.

  
Dean swallows. "Come up here, Cas." He pats his chest.

  
Cas squirms up, smearing jizz everywhere and plopping himself down on one of Dean's pectorals. Dean lowers his head, hesitates for a moment, then sucks one of Cas's little tentacles into his mouth.

  
Cas gasps and lets out a series of tiny shrieks. They don't sound pained, though, and he doesn't try to move away. He writhes on Dean's chest as the man runs his tongue gently along the under side of the sensitive limb.

  
Once he's got the limb all cleaned he lets it out of his mouth with a wet plop. Cas is breathing heavily, staring up at him with hooded eyes.

  
Dean takes the next tentacle into his mouth and repeats the process. About the time he gets through with the second one, the little guys lays down on his back, overcome. His tentacles are splayed around him. Dean takes his pointer finger and gently moves a bunch of tentacles to the side, and for the first time he sees Cas's underside.

  
It's soft and smooth and flushed a bright red. There's a slit, leaking black liquid, and above that is a small cock protruding from a sheathe. It's swollen and red.

  
Dean rubs the tip of his pinky along the slit, and is rewarded with a high, keening moan. He slips the tip of the pinky inside, and begins to rub back and forth.

  
"Dean!" Cas huffs.

  
"This okay, Cas?" Dean asks breathlessly.

  
"Yes!" Cas shrieks. "Don't- don't stop!"

  
Dean continues to fuck Cas with his pinky, but then he sticks out his tongue and begins to lick Cas's tiny dick over and over again. Then, it's too much. Cas comes with a shrill shriek, spilling black ink over everything. He goes limp, and they both lay there breathing heavily for several long minutes.

  
After a while, Dean feels Cas start to move. He climbs a little higher and curls up beneath Dean's chin.

  
"Are we mates now, Dean?" Cas chirps.

  
Dean lets out a slow breath. He has a moment of panic, but it's quickly overcome by a wave of fondness for Cas.

  
"I think we might be." He says.

  
Now how the hell is he going to tell his brother he's in a relationship with a tiny octopus-person?

 

 

END

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at frecklesandsky on tumblr


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